Espionage--worthless?

[Guynemer]

Just out of curiosity--how much use have more experienced played made of the espionage system. It just seems too expensive and random to have any significant place in a viable strategy. Just planting a spy alone is a dicey situation.

[vmxa1]

In a word No.

[joncha]

The only time I ever use it is to provoke someone into declaring war against me. Usually (99% of the time) I just attack 'em, though. Sometimes its just more satisfying to get them good and angry first.

jon.

[Tattila the Hun]

I usually have better use for my gil.

[Rasputin]

i sue it, but then again i use everything in the game to get the whole sensation, no point just using one tactic all the time, more fun experimenting

[David Murray]

It's worth it alone to see exactly how many of each type of unit the opponent has in the military adviser screen.

I feel justified in saving and reloading if planting a spy doesn't work because I also think that espionage in this game is pretty much a shoddy afterthought. In Civ2, I used espionage all the time because you could plant nukes and poison water supplies! And if you were a fundamentalist, civs weren't allowed to declare war on you because terrorism was expected of such extreme regimes.

Ah, the good old days of Civ2.

[Wittlich]

I do use espionage to plant spies...but I agree - the espionage portion of Civ3 needs work.

[Rasputin]

Originally posted by David Murray
It's worth it alone to see exactly how many of each type of unit the opponent has in the military adviser screen.

I feel justified in saving and reloading if planting a spy doesn't work because I also think that espionage in this game is pretty much a shoddy afterthought. In Civ2, I used espionage all the time because you could plant nukes and poison water supplies! And if you were a fundamentalist, civs weren't allowed to declare war on you because terrorism was expected of such extreme regimes.

Ah, the good old days of Civ2.

CHEAT

[Jaybe]

I will sometimes cheat the same way. Depends if I'm (mentally) ready for war or not.

To see where all their military units are for a turn (Steal Plans) is really cool. Of course, anytime you use your spy for other than Investigate City (and I do not know what else), there is risk of it being lost.

The more expensive spy missions are risky. If I am not far ahead, then I don't risk them; if I AM far ahead, I have no need for them.

[Fatwreck]

I only use it for investigating cities to check up on the wonder building of my rivals...

but for stealing techs and suck, nope never even tried it

[Wittlich]

I concur. The only thing I do with my planted spies is investigate cities (mainly the wonder-building ones). Everything else that the spy "could" do is just way too expensive for my taste - especially if you spend the exorbinant amount of gold only to find out that your spy was caught, your gold wasted, and now you're at war - in which case the thousands of gold you just spent to basically get your spy killed and started a war over could have been better spent on the war effort that your spy triggered in the first place!

[asleepathewheel]

plant spies to see how many/type unit

occassionaly check out cities (quite often to see how close to a wonder)

may steal a tech if behind mid game (very rare)

every blue moon steal the military plans

[Jaybe]

Investigating cities during war to inspect defenders and defensive improvements can ensure your not being upset as you make an assault on a city.

[smellymummy]

the most used espionage info i use is the military advisor to check how many units the AI has. after that comes investigate city and steal tech. steal tech is risky and expensive business though

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by David Murray
It's worth it alone to see exactly how many of each type of unit the opponent has in the military adviser screen.

My thoughts exactly.

I rarely use the espionage missions though (mostly examine city to check progress on a wonder, rarely steal plans if I have lots of cash and feel like seeing what the AI is up to).